The technology disclosed in this specification relates to time-division multiplexers which multiplex a plurality of signals in a time-division multiplexed manner, and to signal transmission devices including the same.
A method of multiplex transmission which multiplexes and transmits a plurality of signals in a time division multiplexed manner is known for use to reduce the number of signal lines between two circuits (i.e., the number of terminals in each circuit). For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-8995) discloses a drive unit for transferring CCD charge which includes a time-division multiplexer and a demultiplexer. This drive unit for transferring CCD charge includes a timing signal generator which provides a plurality of timing signals (a plurality of timing signals for read pulses and a plurality of timing signals for vertical transfer), and a vertical driver which outputs a plurality of vertical drive pulses for driving a vertical transfer section of a solid-state imaging device (e.g., a CCD image sensor, etc.) according to the plurality of timing signals from the timing signal generator. The time-division multiplexer and the demultiplexer are respectively provided in the timing signal generator and the vertical driver. The time-division multiplexer multiplexes, in a time division multiplexed manner, combinations of the plurality of timing signals for read pulses and the plurality of timing signals for vertical transfer, and generates a plurality of multiplexed signals, while the demultiplexer demultiplexes the plurality of multiplexed signals into respective combinations of a plurality of timing signals for read pulses and a plurality of timing signals for vertical transfer.